Teal Bridget Rosse was not a morning person. Mornings were acceptable with enough food, but breakfast was the only good reason to get out of bed. Especially when she had to go all the way outside (okay not ALL the way all the way, but to the fake-outside) for Spellwork. Teal wasn’t exactly afraid of the quidditch pitch, but she wasn’t exactly good at flying either. Brooms were… finicky…. And it was cold up there, and you could slip and fall! Teal’s first attempt at flying at RMI had ended two seconds and three feet after she’d started, and she’d never really gone back.

So she was relieved that Spellwork today would have nothing to do with flying. She dutifully scribbled notes on the pronunciation of Carpe Retractum. That looked interesting! Ropes and string were always useful. Wingardium Leviosa was fine; that one had come quickly, and she often used it to feed Zilla. Teal frowned at the weird red pitch. At least the lesson wasn’t about flying, or worse, wasn’t conducted while flying. Instead, it was some kind of weird obstacle course.

Teal knew her dad had been kinda weird for a teacher, but Prof. McKindy was super weird. Who wore a giant pink hat made of bubbles anywa--not made of bubbles, not made of bubbles!! Teal stared in amazement at the toads. Frogs? Toads?? Frogs. Were they alive? Did that mean the bubbles were alive? Did it hurt the frogs? Did they mind being stuck together?

Teal’s mind flew a mile a minute as she crouched down to study one of the frogs. How on Merlin’s shiny bald head did someone transform a living creature into something not-living? And what happened if the bubble popped?? The second-year had seen transfigurations before, of course, but nothing like this. Then Professor McKindy started the demonstrations, and Teal snapped back up to attention. “The first spell is at a third year level, so second years, don’t try it unless you’re fairly confident in your abilities. First years, I suggest you don’t try it if you want to keep your eyebrows.”

Fairly confident in your abilities? Ha! Teal was fairly confident she would WIN. Unless Prof. McKindy wasn’t exaggerating about the eyebrows. It was just a rope, right? But you had to make it. That was way more complicated than just moving something around. Teal had tried to extend the hems of her robes, but one of them had just frayed, and nothing happened for the other one. Her growth spurt meant the other students got treated to the sight of her fun and colorful socks: pink and purple striped (on the left foot) and blue with red-polka-dots (on the right foot). With her hair back in pigtails, Teal resembled an even-more-freckly, brown-haired Pippi Longstocking.

Reassuring herself that there was no way a spell that made rope could take out your eyebrows, Teal decided she would try it. She scanned the pitch for useful items-- was that string? What was the point of string? And just a stick? What, could you balance on it? Or maybe…

She poked her neighbor excitedly. “What do you think, that’s a sled? And those sticks? You could push yourself across? I’m Teal, by the way. And we’re totally gonna win.”

It was the first Spellwork lesson of the school year, and Aaron McKindy had dressed appropriately. He wore jeans and a pair of black Converse sneakers, and a surprisingly muted black shirt with a... more

Sara´s classes had already started, and the first-year was already a little bit overwhelmed. She felt like she had to go to a lot of classes and had a ton of homework and it was just a lot of stuff... more

The first thing Remington had asked a staff member to charm was her alarm clock. It was one of the things she insisted on bringing with her from home. It could also work as a lamp; it had about four... more

Dhruv liked Professor McKindy. He was a pretty funny guy. Kinda awkward, but not as weird as Professor Bennett. Plus the hat was cool. Especially now that the second-year knew it was actually made of ... more

Remington was relieved that she’d flagged down someone to be in a group with her. And the older student actually looked familiar, which meant they must have been a Draco. From what she could tell,... more

Dhruv smiled, bemused, as Remington flipped through her notebook. The second-year had been blessed with a fantastic memory, so taking notes in class wasn’t something he troubled himself with. That... more

Leopold stood at the edge of the pitch his face adopting a painful expression of concentration as a slice of toast stuck out of his mouth. Spellwork was his favourite class and not just because he... more

Lilly-Anna was starting to get used to the wonder of the world of magic, and now was starting to have fun with it. She had explored so many of the halls of the school but still couldn't find the... more

Immediately Leo knew he liked this girl. She was smart and smarts were one thing Leo was severely lacking. It didn’t matter that he’d tuned out for the second half of her plan because the girl sold... more

"Lava Field!" Marley echoed, light brown eyes roving across the grass. "Oooh, that explains this ." Her voice had jumped a bit louder than intended during her exclamation, but she hadn't really... more

Dade Farnon was, by no definition of the phrase, a morning person. The black-haired boy had tumbled out of bed at more or less the time he had intended to and blearily brushed his teeth before moving ... more

"Now what?" The first-year's words didn't sound nearly as enthusiastic as they should have. But maybe that was just because she was extra-enthusiastic about today's lesson. Yep, that was probably it, ... more

It seemed as though Dade had managed to be partnered with the chattiest girl on the planet. It meant he didn’t have to talk much, which was great, but it also meant he had to listen to her, which... more

Beatriz Bonilla Estevez had woken up early for her first day as a student at RMI. She dressed in tailored black jeans, a cute light blue colored blouse, sensible shoes and her school robes. She... more

Alistair's first day at RMI was turning out to be rather interesting, and his roommates hadn't been particularly helpful, or talkative for that matter since he had arrived. He fumbled his way out of... more

On the first day of classes, Connor woke up early and got dressed, selecting a blue polo shirt and khakis to go under his uniform robes. He had noticed that a lot of students - and particularly upper ... more

Beatriz turned and looked at the boy she had ended up speaking to. A boy she remembered from last night who had been sorted into Cetus. There were plenty of Lyra first years she wondered how in the... more

Alistair smiled at Beatriz and shook her hand, gently, but with a touch of firmness. He had no idea who she was, but she seemed to have an air of importance around her, almost like the minister and... more

Beatriz nodded when Alistair said nice to meet you, and that he looked forward to working with her. That seemed like an odd thing to say since he didn’t know if she would be a good worker or even... more

Alistair smiled as Connor introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you Connor. I'm in Cetus as well." Watching Connor, Alistair could tell that he was trying to put on a mature face in front of himself... more

When Beatriz suggested using tires, Connor looked over to where she was looking and she was right - there were several tires there. The Cetus frowned. He wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Since... more

Claudia tugged her grey uniform robe so it fell more comfortably as she made her way across the Quidditch pitch to her spellwork class. She hadrons made of two different fabrics: lightweight for... more

Hunter’s first morning the Lyra dorm was… slow-moving. He normally didn’t have any trouble waking up in the mornings but he had been up late the night before. He literally rolled out of bed and fell... more

Teal flushed pink when she saw she’d poked her yearmate Claudia. The other girl looked annoyed at the lesson, and the poke probably didn’t help. Well, if Teal had realized she’d partnered up with... more

Hunter put on his pondering face as he listened to all the reasons a hovercraft sled probably wouldn’t work. He had worried it wouldn’t be as simple as he imagined, and from what the girl was saying... more

A first year student did join them, and Claudia was again pulled in opposing emotional directions, this time between relief that she was not longer ignoring Professor McKindy’s stipulation to work... more

OOC: With apologies to B and Bernadette, I originally posted my reply to the wrong post. Here it is again, in the proper location. Hunter put on his pondering face as he listened to all the reasons a ... more

“Good morning!” Raja suppressed the urge to hiss. Morning and good did not go together. It was too darn early to exist, and he had no idea how Professor McKindy was so freakin’ chipper. Raja barely... more

Rhiya stepped onto the Pitch, notebook and quill in hand, and scribbled quickly on the first page of her new notebook. With practiced ease she dated the page, added a title, and set up a color-coded... more

Raja looked up at the girl, her body making very clear that she didn’t particularly want to be talking to him, and her utterance doing little to dispute. He didn’t catch it fully, but it was clearly... more

As Raja squeaked out something or the other about working together, Rhiya considered her options. She could ditch the first-year pretty easily and try the Lava Field on her own, but chances were... more

“Yay!” He was so glad Rhiya was still willing to work with him even though he’d apparently annoyed her initially. Raja really didn’t want his first class experience to be mentally noted as tried to... more

Of course Raja wanted to use “the rope one”. Rhiya had known he was going to say that as soon as he opened his mouth. For reasons she couldn't fathom, he seemed determined to blow his eyebrows off.... more

It seemed like she was going to say no, and Raja felt his disappointment mounting, but to his surprise and relief, Rhiya said he could try it. “Thanks!” he said, giving her a quick squeeze. He didn’t ... more

Rhiya stiffened at the unexpected hug from Raja then patted him on the back awkwardly. It was hard not to (unwillingly) kind of like the kid when he was this genuinely enthusiastic and excited. She... more

“Oh no, you fell?” Raja was far less concerned about the red-turned disc and more about the fact that she’d fallen over. “No worries about having to double back. You okay?” Rhiya didn’t seem hurt,... more

Rhiya waited semi-patiently as Raja pulled off a successful Wingardium Leviosa . “Nice job.” They only had to do this, what, another 30-40 times? She looked ahead eyebrows in dismay at how far they... more

Tains was late. Really late. And on her first day too. She had to skip breakfast and the loose, lopsided braids she’d barely managed to do had long since undone themselves. They slapped against her... more

Andres opened his eyes slowly in the morning, turning his head towards the incoming light through his window shades. After years of being haggled, dragged, and sprayed to get out of bed, his internal ... more

Tains was a little shaken -- literally -- by the abrupt handshake. But she couldn’t help but smile. He was the first person she’d met who’d actually shaken her hand. Granted, she couldn’t blame the... more